The invention relates to a control device in a magnetic-tape cassette apparatus, comprising an axially movable control rod which over a part of its travel co-operates with a lever for loading and ejecting the cassette, which lever co-operates with a switching arm of an electrical switch by means of a switching projection, which switch is set to an activated position at the beginning of the loading movement and starts the motor drive for the control rod and is set to a deactivated position during the ejection movement to enable the motor drive to be stopped.
Such a magnetic-tape cassette apparatus is disclosed in German Offenlegungsschrift No. 33 15 822, to which U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,088 corresponds. This apparatus employs a switching device which is actuated by a transport lever when a cassette is manually inserted and is de-activated after the transport lever has reached its end position during ejection of the cassette. When the drive mechanism is switched off it must be ensured that the cassette has been ejected far enough to permit easy removal by hand. After switching off the motor of the drive mechanism rotates slightly further, so that the cassette is ejected far enough under normal operating conditions. However, there may be situations when this is not the case. This may happen, for example, at very low operating temperatures or when the supply voltage is too low. In these cases it may happen that the cassette is not ejected far enough and therefore the cassette cannot readily be removed. This problem may be overcome by means of an additional switch. However, such a switch occupies additional space and requires additional electrical connections. Therefore, this step involves additional costs and is less suitable in the case of compact equipement.